5 minute read
Who's Your Source of HOA Intelligence
By Scott Swinton, CCIP
April 7, 1961, may not be remembered as poignantly as December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor), but when it comes to lessons learned, it probably should be.
In 1960 President Eisenhower had directed the CIA to begin planning an invasion. The attack was to be executed by US-trained political exiles from the target nation. John F. Kennedy took office in 1961 and was handed the reigns to, and the infamy of, what would follow.
On April 7, only a few months after JFK’s inauguration, repurposed WWII bombers began an ill-fated bombing run, and an underwhelming force hit the southern beaches of Cuba. Both began taking heavy fire and pitiable casualties at a place called, The Bay of Pigs.
The Bay of Pigs is today routinely coupled with the word fiasco. Everything went wrong and things really didn’t get sorted out for years.
The primary failure at the Bay of Pigs was a lack of good intelligence. With better information, the attack might have never taken place. The CIA, the generals, and the rank and file simply didn’t know what they needed to know. Lives, reputations, and an escalation of the cold war were the prices paid.
THE BAY OF PIGS: HOA EDITION
I’ve heard that word, fiasco, not a few times over the years while working with homeowner’s associations. Typically, like with the Bay of Pigs, the cause was a lack of good information. The fiasco is a botched roofing project, a chaotic board meeting, or an unfortunate interaction with a homeowner.
The HOA is legally shackled to volunteerism. This intentional distancing from the corporate business model makes room for relatively inexperienced leadership. With a humble approach, inexperienced leaders can find great success. But lack of experience does make one vulnerable to unwittingly stepping on landmines. The explosion is often preceded by a poorly planned attempt to tackle something new by the well-intended but uninformed.
Volunteer board members are to be applauded and pitied. They are valiant and vulnerable. The demands of society on its elected and paid officials are often telegraphed onto the volunteers doing their best to hold together an unruly condominium. These volunteers need all the information they can get – and their day jobs often get in the way of gathering it.
Navigating the impact of a tightening insurance market, aging buildings, and a rollercoaster economy is not easy – no less doing so under the scrutiny of all your neighbors. How many managers or board members have enough experience and information to launch a sewer lateral replacement project, source liability insurance, replace their electrical meter panels, or, heaven forbid – all of those at one time? As the multifamily inventory ages, forbidding issues never printed on the pages of reserve studies are suddenly rearing up with fangs and scales such as, cracked concrete slabs and
foundations, failed French drains, and critically rusted structural steel. Getting good advice has never been more important.
Some key intelligence is inevitably going to be overlooked. Obfuscation on the part of nefarious homeowners is probably unavoidable. The caprices of an unhappy contingent of owners are truly unpredictable. But having enough information about an upcoming change to the CC&Rs, substituting a vendor, or starting a construction project probably is achievable if the members are simply presented with the sources of that information.
Experts in all the fields of service to HOA communities are available for hire and often for free. Organizations such as CACM and ECHO are truly a click away. The decision makers don’t need to go it alone, nor should they try. Following are some tips to have handy when the next decision starts to raise your heart rate:
1. ASK EXPERTS YOU TRUST
Such as your accountant or attorney, to recommend other experts each time you venture into a new decision. The days of winging it are over. The multifamily inventory is now too complicated or too old to think that your neighbors should rely on your “gut feelings.”
2. ASK YOUR CONSULTANTS...
what am I missing? Collaborating with their knowledge may shed light on other concerns before they become catastrophes.
3. ENCOURAGE A LEARNING CULTURE
Expose board members, managers, and homeowners to seminars, organizations, and courses where they can find the information they need. Repeatedly present these opportunities. We humans are a proud and forgetful species. We need to be reminded and encouraged.
4. SMALL DECISIONS MAY HAVE BIG RAMIFICATIONS
Ask experts if decisions you are about to make are as unimportant as you believe. Maybe they are. Go for it. But maybe there are some hidden pit vipers ahead and a simple question plus a bit of planning can eradicate them before you get bit.
